Towel-delivery machine.



U. E. ROHDE.

TOWEL DELIVERY MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 1, 1911.

Patented Aug. 19, 1.913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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TOWEL DELIVERY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 13110.1, 1911.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ULRICH E. ROHDE, OF ROCK RAPIDS, IOWA.

TOWEL DELIVERY MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19,1913.

Application filed December 1, 1911. Serial No. 663,258.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ULRICH E. Rormn, a citizen of tle United States,residing at Rock Rapids, in the county of Lyon and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel-Delivery Machines,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for delivering towelsand like cloths; and an object ofthis invention is to provide a machineof this character which will be simple in construction, comparativelycheap in manufacture and most efficient, secure and reliable in use.

Another object of this invention is the provision in a machine of thischaracter of suitable guiding devices by which the towels are led to andfrom the feed mechanism.

A third feature of this invention is the provision in a machine of thischaracter of feed mechanism for presenting a clean towel at andwithdrawing the soiled towel from the delivery opening.

A fourth object of this invention is the provision of simple means fordisengaging or releasing the soiled towel from the feed mechanism.

Other features of this invention will be set forth in the descriptionand claims which hereinafter follow.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of this invention and thebest mode now known to me of applying that principle, Figure 1 is afront elevation of my new towel-supplying machine; Fig. 2 is a sectionon the line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section looking inthe direct-ion of the arrow X in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section on the lineB-B of Fig. 1; Fig. -5 is a detail showing the feed-disk in plan; Fig. 6is a detail showing in elevation the feed-disk and its shaft; Fig. 7 isa detail in perspective showing the manner in which the towels are fedto the feed-disk; Fig. 8 is a detail in perspective of the soiled-towelreleasingmechanism; and Fig. 9 is a detail showing the rifle groovesrectified.

The machine is inclosed in a suitable cabinet or casing a which isprovided at its top with a mirror 6 and, below the latter in the ordernamed, with a delivery opening 0 and a coin slot d and, near its bottom,with an opening e through which projects the free outer end of afoot-operated operating-lever the inner end of which is suitably pivotedor fulcrumed at f in a bracket f" fastened to the inner face of the backwall of the casing and the outer end of which is provided with asuitable pedal f'. Fastened to the front wall of the cabinet within thesame, is a series of brackets 9 one of which is at the top and anotherof which is near the bottom of the casing; and in these brackets isslidably mounted an operating rod h the lower end of which is joined ath by a pin-and-slot connection with the foot-lever The sliderod h isprovided with a collar 21 to which is fastened the lower end of acoil-spring j the upper end of which is attached to one of the brackets9,- hence, when the foot-lever; is depressed, the spring j will be extened; and upon the foot-levers being relieved of the pressure, theslide-rod it will be restored to its original position by the recoil ofthe spring j. Projecting inwardly from the 1 front face of the cabinetis a shelf k, which is supported by a pair of braces m and which in turnsupports the housing n. Mounted in a thrust bearing 0 on the shelf is isthe lower end of a vertically-disposed shaft ;0 the upper end of whichis supported in a suitable bearing 0 fastened to the top of the cabineta. Fastened to the vertical shaft p is a collar q to which is suitablysecured, as by rivets, a feed-disk 1- from which projects verticallyupward a hollow shaft or sleeve 8 formed with a pair of rifle or helicalgrooves 25, u which merge into each other at their ends. Slidablymounted upon the sleeve 8 is a ring 1; from which a pin w projectsinwardly and is arranged to engage the walls of the helical grooves t,u, when the ring 4) is slid along the sleeve 8. The ring '0 is carriedby the bifurcated end of a forked lever in the other end of which isfulcrumed in a bracket y fastened tothe inside of the cabinet at nearthe top thereof (Figs. 2 and 8). F astened to the slide rod k is abracket-arm z the other end of which is pivotally fastened to the lever00. Hence, w en the slide-rod h is depressed, the pin w is made totravel in one of the helical grooves as u and thereby to rotate thefeed-disk r and its shaft p.

The feed-disk 1' is provided with a notch 'r and is partially surroundedby a band 2 which is a continuation of the outside guiderail 3 of a pairof helically-disposed guiderails 3, 4c and which is prolonged to formone wall 5 of the discharge runway. The upper end of the other wall 6 ofthe latter extends under the feed-disk and serves as a finger 6 todisengage from the notch 1- the carrier 7 in which the upper end of thetowel is held. This carrier 7 is formed with a ball-shaped head 7 and atits lower end withan eye 7 in which the end of the towel T is thrust. Inorder to increase the capacity of the feedrunway in which the cleantowels are held, the guide-rails 3, 4 constituting this runway are bentinto helical form, as is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Bracket plates n arefastened to the front wall of the casing within the same and to the band2 and support the latter.

The operation of my new towel machine will be readily understood fromthe foregoing description, when read in connection with the drawings,and is as follows: Under the influence of gravity, the carriers 7holding the towels slide down the helically-di sposed feed-runway. Inthe initial position of .rest of the feed-disk 1*, its notch 1"registers with the outlet end of the feed-runway and therefore normallyholds a carrier 7 bearing a clean towel. A person desiring to operatethe machine and thereby obtain a clean towel places his foot upon thepedal f and presses downwardly the foot-lever 7, whereby he pulls downthe slide-rod it against the tension of the coil-spring j and forces thering 4) downwardly along the sleeve 3. The pin w bears against a wall ofthe groove 24 and therebyturns the shaft p and the feed-disk 7* throughone-third of a complete turn to carry the clean towel to the deliveryopening 0. The towel T now hangs-between the housing at and the deliv-'ery opening a. -I-I0lding the foot-lever 1'' depressed with his, foot,he uses the towel and,

having finished therewith, he relieves thefoot-lever of. the pressure ofhis foot, whereupon the coil-spring j recoils, the pin w returns to itsoriginal position, passing through the groove t and pressing a ainst awall of the same, whereby the fee -disk 1" is carried in the samedirection through the remaining two-thirds of 'a complete turn and comesto rest in its initial position. During the last two-thirds of itsturning movement the feed-disk carries with it the towel, which is now asoiled towel and which is disengaged'from the notch r by means of thefinger 6 engaging the carrier 7 which now falls down the dischargerunway. Near the end of its fall, the towel T slides down the inclinedapron a. It is to be observed that the soiled towel does not pass overany part of the path of the clean towel.

I claim:

1. A towel-delivering machine having a casing formed with adelivery-opening; a feed-runway; a discharge-runway; a housing which isopposed to said delivery-opening and which prevents unauthorized accessto the towels within the casing through said opening; a step-by-steptowel-feed device which first carries the towels from the feedrunwayinto the accessible space between said housing and delivery opening andnext, upon being released by the operator, automatically withdraws thetowels from said space and delivers them to said dischargerunway; saidtowel-feed device retaining the towels during their passage from saifeed-runway to said discharge-runway.

2. A towel-delivering machine having a casing formed with adelivery-opening; a feed-runway; a discharge runway; a stepby-steprotary towel-feed device which is formed with towel-engaging means topick a towel from said feed runway and which first carries the toweltherefrom to said opening and next, upon being released by the operator,automatically withdraws the towel from said opening and delivers thetowel to said discharge runway; said towelfeed device holding the towelfrom its disengagement from said feed-runway to its engagement with saiddischarge-runway.

- 3. A towel-delivering machine havin a feed-runway; a discharge-runway;an a rotary towel-feed device which rotates between said runways and isformed with towel-engaging means that withdraws the vtowel from saidfeed-runway; said discharge runway bein formed at its inlet end with atowel-gui ing device which disengages the towel from said towel-engagingmeans and guides the towel into said dischargerunway.

"4. A towel-delivering machine having a feed-runway; a discharge-runway;and a rotary towel-feed device which rotates between said runways and isformed with towel-engaging means that withdraws the towel from saidfeed-runway; said discharge-runway at its inlet end being shaped to forma cam-like finger which disengages the towel from said towel-engagingmeans and guides the towel into said dischargerunway.

5. A towel-delivering machine having a feed-runway; a discharge-runway;a wheel-- like rotary towel-feed device formed with towel-engaging meansthat withdraws the towel from said feed-runway and delivers it to saiddischarge-runway; a shaft upon which is mounted said towel-feed device;and cam-controlled mechanism which turns said shaft and thereby rotatessaid towelfeed device between said runways.

6. A towel-delivering machine having a horizontally-disposed towel-feeddevice; a vertically-disposed shaft which carries said device and whichis formed with a cam groove; an actuating device arranged to slide upand down on said shaft and to engage the walls of said roove; and meansfor moving said actuating device up and down upon said shaft to swingsaid towelfeed device.

7. A towel-delivering machine having a feed-runway; a discharge-runway;a wheellike rotary towel-feed device which is formed with towel-engagingmeans that Withdraws the towel from said feed-runway and delivers it tosaid discharge-runway; a shaft upon which said towel-feed device ismounted; and cam-controlled mechanism which turns said shaft in a singledirection and thereby rot-ates said towel-feed device to carry thetowels from said feed-runway to said discharge-runway.

8. A towel-delivering machine having towel-feed mechanism formed with apair of cam grooves which communicate with each other; and means whichengage the walls of the latter in succession and are arranged to beoperated by the customer to move the towel feed mechanism step-bystep.

9. A towel-deliverin towel-feed mechanism machine having ormed with apair of cam grooves which communicate with each other at their ends; andmeans which travel from one of said grooves to the other and arearranged to be operated by the customer to move the towel-feed mechanismstep-by-step.

10-. A towel-delivering machine having towel-feed mechanism arranged toturn and formed with a pair of cam grooves; a slide which travels in thelatter and engages the walls thereof; mechanism which is arranged to beactuated by the customer and which moves said slide through one of saidgrooves to feed a towel; and an automatic device which moves said slidethrough the other of said grooves and restores said mechanism to itsinitial position.

Signed at said Rock Rapids, this day of November, A. D, 1911, in thepresence of the two undersigned witnesses.

ULRICH E. ROHDE.

Witnesses:

G. E. TABER, J. W. RAMsEY.

